Elustrative Notices. EVEN Coleridge, the philosophical Coleridge, who wrote so near to the time of Robespierre as 1794, in his Historic Drama The Fall of Robespierre,' gives this account of the death of the famous Tribune. What trust can be put in newspaper truth, when, so near the event as the time when Coleridge wrote, such a man could be so imposed upon? Lecointre is recounting the end of Robespierre:— The tyrants fled They reach'd the Hotel. We gather'd round-we call'd For vengeance! Long time, obstinate in despair With knives they hack'd around them. Till foreboding Of joyful thousands hailing their destruction, The self-will'd dictator Plunged often the keen knife in his dark breast, Mr. G. R. Vine culls the following choice sentiments from an article entitled 'Four Years' Experience of the Catholic Religion,' in the paper mentioned as follows:-'Next to a return to the true religion (Catholicism),' says a writer in the Rambler for July, I can conceive nothing so beneficial to the Anglo-Saxon race as an infusion of a spirit of light-hearted cheerfulness and a less keen susceptibility to the peculiar charms of modern civilisation.'......' Not only the genial influence of their religion as a spiritual system, but the nature of their belief in the excellence of poverty and the monastic and celibate life, and in the pernicious nature of excessive carefulness, and of a melancholy anxious spirit, tend to make them sit down, contented and comparatively carless about worldly success, when other men would strain every nerve to struggle against the assaults of fortune, and to provide against every possible future contingency. This is strange philosophy, but if it were generally practised I think we should have, not a nation of Diogeneses with tubs for habitations, but a world of lazy paupers. Further on the writer says, that the law of nature which tends to make some men rich and the other poor, tends to make the first richer and the second poorer every day that passes by.' This remark is offered as a refutation of Socialism-but if we ask every individual who has wealth, the means he resorted to to obtain that wealth, we shall have a different statement to deal with from that given here. G. R. V. Dr. Arnold made the remark-'I never wanted articles on religious subjects half so much as articles on common subjects, written with a decidedly Christian tone.' Dr. Arnold was too sincere a man to say this in the spirit of Jesuitry. He saw that the day of Doctrinalism was past with Christianity as with other things also that men who would make any system acceptable in this epoch must prove its applicability to 'common subjects'-must, in fact, practicalise it. : The head master of Harrow School, Dr. Vaughan, in a volume of sermons just published, declares, so say the newspapers, that what he calls the pride of scepticism' is working its deadly work in the two Universities, to an extent to which 'those who have left them even for a few years can scarcely believe.' The Shields Gazette states that a Primitive Wesleyan Chapel in that town is being converted into a beer-shop. Tindal remarks, that Earnest men are never offended that others who differ from them the widest in opinion should be earnest; but they are offended that the earnestness of others should treat their earnestness as folly and guilt.' The Bradford Observer states that Mr. Joseph Barker left Wortley on Monday evening, June 18, for Liverpool, to take his passage for New York in the packetship 'Hartford,' and that he intends returning to England in about five months. G. J. H. THE UNCERTAIN RESULTS OF THE WAR SIR, Sir Robert Peel, at the Mansion House the other day, spoke of the 'glorious exertions and inspiring example of the Duke of Wellington,' in compliment of the advantages gained by the British standard floating over the walls of Paris; and the independence of nations secured. The Times, of Friday, June 29th, in its comments, says-'We are aware that the fruits of just and honourable war do not pass away with its monuments, its captains, its final treaties and awards...... The fortunes of ages may be cast in the die of one hostile collision.' 'In Here, in allusion to the result of Waterloo, the Times gives it as a public and most disinterested service, accomplished at a vast sacrifice of blood and treasure, and which has tied an everlasting millstone round the neck of British industry, has been repaid with political insult, fiscal prohibition, and commercial repudiation.' that capital,' it adds, to which the Duke marched from Torres Vedras, and where "the independence of nations was secured," there is now installed the heir of the dethroned Napoleon.' It continues— 'Revolution has long since severed the bulwark which the allies vainly thought to raise against France by the union of Catholic Belgium with Protestant Holland. The vast complicated machine of Austria is all out of gear. The combination of territories which still calls itself Prussia just holds together, ready to fly asunder at the slightest excess of regal or popular domination. Germany is no longer, in any sense, one. Absolutism, also, has committed her infractions of the European Free Agency v. Orthodoxy settlement. It has defrauded Sicily of just expec- COOPER'S Holy Scriptures Analysed.... Thus the wisdom of our great and mighty men has resulted in mistake, and all their doings, to be confessed, require doing over again. May we not hope that better agencies will come into operation, to prove that mankind are capable of a higher scale in being than that which the brutal system of war creates ? Punch says, "The romance of one era is the reality of the next. The Arbitration Question has taken root, and will grow and spread.' Gravesend, July 2nd. ROMAN SUBSCRIPTIONS. R. H. H. 1s, James Spurr, Liverpool, 6d., Willis Knowles, Hyde, 1s. is. Per J. Watson.-Mr. Parrott 2s. 6d., Mr. Medley Per E. Truelove.-J. Patterson 1s., Mr. Powell 1s., Arthur 6d., G. Gall 6d., John Craig 6d., Mr. Collinson 3d., John Grant 6d. Per H. Hetherington. - Mr. Stubbs, Camden Town, 2s. 6d., A Friend 18., J. Pearson 1s. 2d., J. Sculthorp 18., C. Holmes Is., J. Pearson 8d., C. Marriott 6d., G. Burrows 6d., A Sacrifice to the holy cause of Italian Democracy 6d. Per Mr.Newton.-Mr. Mackie 3s. 6d., R. Newton 2s., W. Noel 1s., H. Noel 18., Mr. Nightingale Is., Mr. Cook 18., A Friend 1s., Mr. Taylor 1s. 6d., Mr. Stevens 1s., Mr. Heather 1s. C. L. S. 28., Mr. Roast 1s., A. Mason 6d., W. R. Cook 6d. ERRATA. Upon examining the items acknowledged in the Reasoner, and comparing them with private lists, an error appears. On p. 411, No. 161, Unit 28.' should be Unit 2s. 6d. But 2s. 6d. were paid on behalf of Unit' to the Treasurer, as Mr. H.'s receipt shows. The Total of £8 14s. 2d.,' given on p. 383, No. 159, was less than that paid over to the Treasurer. The receipt in Mr. Holy Or in numbers at 2d. The Scripturian's Creed Doubts of Infidels. 0 8 .. 0 3 2 6 0 2 0 3 Important Examination of the Holy Scrip- 0 6 Mackintosh on the Being and Attributes of 0 8 RECEIVED.-Alexander Brown. (The works were London:-Printed by A. Holyoake, 54, Exmouth THE REASONER No. 6.-NEW SERIES.] EDITED BY G. J. HOLYOAKE. So. [PRICE 2d. INTERESTING FACTS RELATIVE TO THE DEFENCE OF ROME. IN the very excellent letter of Douglas Jerrold in the Express of Wednesday, on the subject of a Mazzini Medal, it is stated that Mazzini was protected after the fall of Rome by a British passport. This is very generally supposed to have been the case in this country-but it was not It has been said that he was attached to the British embassay, to secure his safety in appearing in the streets of Rome-as he did on several occasions after the French entered-but this was not so. He had neither passport nor guarantee from any Court-he had no protection save that of his own courage and address, which has brought him beforetimes through equally imminent danger. He even left Rome without a passport. At a distant port he eluded the officers, who entered the vessel on one side as he left it on the other. He is, however, safe at Geneva. Some events it would afford great pleasure to relate, of Mazzini's last thirty days in Rome, have come to our knowledge; but, being of a personal nature, though of public interest, we leave it to others to his immediate friends-to record them. The past week has afforded some opportunities of learning from unquestionable sources some interesting facts relative to the defence of Rome. It appears that there were never more than 10,000 men under arms in Rome, and that not more than 4000 of these were regular disci+plined soldiers; and yet, with this small force, did the Romans hold out so long against the besieging forces. The great extent of wall to be defended by the Romans subjected the soldiers to great fatigue and protracted watching. The want of discipline in the greater part of the troops very much impaired their efficiency. About 4000 fell in defence. The French, including about 800 killed by malaria, lost about 6000. Young Manara, who fell in the struggle, is an illustration of the interest taken in Italian liberty by the best families of Rome. Manara was of such family. He was a young man-he had a wife and three children, yet he was foremost in the fight. He was also immensely rich; and on the day on which he fell, he was supporting 700 out of his own resources. The case of Manara was not singular. Great elements out of which to mould the future greatness of Italy exists. The recent effort was national in the best sense. It not only included the best men, but the best families among its friends and aiders. [No. 167, Vol. VII.] General Aveyzana, who commanded at Genoa, and took part in the defence of Ancona and Rome, has lately been in London. The General is of noble aspect and large stature. His quiet unassuming manner is in keeping with the soldier of freedom. General Aveyzana has been thirty years an exile from his own land, during which time he has fought for the liberty of every nation he could reach, whose freedom has been endangered. Of late he held an American colonelcy. He had settled in that country, and has a wife and six children; but as soon as he heard of the late prospects of new Italy, he set out from that distant land, and came and threw the weight of his sword into the scale of his country's freedom. How inherent and intense must be the love of liberty, to induce a man to leave his family, and travel from the other side of the world to fight in its defence! The courage required for such an act is greater than that required on the field of battle. Yet the general says that the last year (though one of such peril to all concerned) has afforded him the greatest satisfaction. To feel his country for a time free, and to be able to do something to continue it so, was a reward beyond all price. He may yet have to lay his bones in a foreign land, but the remembrance of the past year will cheer him. The General has been twice condemned to death. While he was in London the Times recorded a sentence of death against him. But we hope soon to learn that he has rejoined his family in safety. The General says that in the conflicts those who were wounded rejoiced in their wounds, and those who died gave their last breath to freedom. The enthusiasm of the dying, as they were borne along, found limits only in death., The last year has raised Italy in the scale of courage, of honour, and of nations. Under the inspiration of Mazzini and his able coadjuto rs the Italian character has been established. The blood shed now may secure the future of Italy. As it is no longer possible to remit to Rome the late subscriptions for the succour of bereaved defenders-as they would fall into Oudinot's hands -the meeting was held on Thursday, night of which we last week gave notice. The Treasurer's account unanimously passed, and the balance ordered for distribution (by one in whom all have confidence) among the exiles that are finding refuge in distant lands. In England, as many as 300 are reported to have arrived at Folkstone, and a preliminary meeting has been held, and a committee of influential names are forming, to obtain subscriptions for their assistance. In Leicester Square on Friday night an Italian meeting was held to protest not merely against the Pope but against the system of popery. More than one kind of liberty will come out of these struggles. We have to acknowledge the following subscriptions forwarded by R. H.-William Thomas Makins, 1s.; John Miller, 1s.; A Friend, 28.; George Harnden, 28.; Frederic Palmer, 1s.; Rebecca Burrell, 1s; Jane Gibson, 1s.; Marian Gibson, Is.; A Family (33. of which are sent by Three Children, earned by them, by eating dry bread instead of bread and butter, and spontaneously so) 103. Total, 20s. The subscribers leave a discretional power with Mr. Holyoake to pay over this sum to the Hungarians, if no longer needed for the Romans, but the facts detailed above warrant its appropriation to the parties for whom it was subscribed. Mr. Dobell handed 3s. to Mr. Holyoake, at the South London Meeting, on Wednesday, to be appropriated as might seem best. That, also, as requirements are urgent, has been added to the Roman Fund. G. J. HOLYOAKE. HOW HUMAN MANNERS ARE MADE. MR. WILLIS KNOWLES writes-In Reasoner No. 158, is the following sentence, by Ion: "So simple is life when well understood, and so universal is leading truth, that the coherent carrying out of but a single general principle would give character to an individual, and remodel human manners." This sentence may seem a happy collection of ideas upon "human manners." But to me it would appear happier to know, what "is life when well understood?" And what "is leading truth?" What "single general principle would give character?"—and what kind of character-"to an individual?" The solution to these "simple" questions might throw some light upon life, and cause life to be better understood among working men than it seems to be at present. There are some of us who want the details-to see how such important results are arrived at.' We answer-Life when well understood' includes three ideas-peace, dignity, and progress. It implies to the individual equanimity and usefulness, to others the beneficence of act and example. Leading truth' is a great conviction, oft recurring in practice, till it becomes an habitual sentiment. Any single general principle (or rule) would give character:' method, punctuality, pleasantry, non-retaliation, an interpretation of motives measured by facts, would each, if followed out in detail consistently, give peculiar character. The 'kind of character' depends on the rule adopted. Illo, in Schiller's Piccolomini, says 'Dash and through with it! That's the better watch-word. Then after come what may come. "Tis man's nature To make the best of a bad thing once past. A bitter and perplex'd' What shall I do!' Is worse to man than worst necessity. To the comprehension and adoption of this principle in military warfare the Duke of Wellington owes his position of the foremost captain of the age. His whole career and character are stamped with it. Men usually follow one rule one day and its opposite another. It is choosing a clear and good rule, and following it every day and in every thing to which it is applicable, that 'remodels human manners.' Any one of the excellent maxims quoted last week from Wesley, at the end of the article 'Methodism in the Provinces,' would, if carried out to its full extent in daily transactions, mark a man-or, in other words, make him a man of mark. I should dwell on this matter more at length, but it would savour of repetition, as I have specially and fully treated the whole question in the chapter Method,' in Rudiments of Public Speaking and Debate. For method is to literature what decision is to character, and principle to morals. G. J. H. |